


The Ballad of the Costa Concordia

by poetroe



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bank Robbery, Crack Treated Seriously, F/F, Fluff, Kinda Cracky, bank robbery gone wrong au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-18
Updated: 2019-06-18
Packaged: 2020-05-14 02:41:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19264294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poetroe/pseuds/poetroe
Summary: Claudia is a casual bank robber. It's Rayla's first job. It should've all gone according to plan, but real life doesn't always work that way.(Good thing they have each other)





	The Ballad of the Costa Concordia

**Author's Note:**

> i've had this in my drafts for a while: the prompt is a bank robbery gone wrong and i loVE IT A LOT. anyways i'm in the middle of finals but raydia have me under such a spell that i couldn't help myself, i had to get this out !! the next chapters are hopefully coming soon, each of which will start w a quote from a song by Car Seat Headrest that i borrowed the title from, as well. hope u love it (even tho this is a lil short), please leave a comment with ur thoughts !!!!

_And it’ll take three hundred million dollars / To get me up tomorrow_

***

“Claudia,” Soren says, urgent and excitable, as soon as Claudia picks up the phone. “Meet me at Aspiro in half an hour. I found us a job.” Claudia groans into her pillow before turning around in her bed.

“Do I have to? It’s my day off.”

“You’re going to want to hear this,” comes Soren’s answer. “These people who want to work with us are actual professionals.” With a sigh, Claudia sits upright in her bed and glances at the outside world through the opening in her curtains. “Like, if they were any more professional, they would be in the FBI. I swear, Clauds, this is going to make us rich.” The apartment building Claudia’s room is situated opposite to looks unappealing as ever, especially when coated in a light drizzle, but her father did raise her better than to stay in bed if there was cash to be made.

“Okay, I’ll bite,” Claudia says as she gets up and walks over to her closet. “How much?”

“Two million at the very least. Twenty-five if the job goes well—depends on how much time we have,” Soren explains. His tone is all business, drenched in a seriousness that really is uncharacteristic for their phone calls, Claudia thinks as she pulls on a pair of skinny jeans. “It’s a four person job,” her brother continues, “so it’ll be somewhere between five hundred thousand and six million, two hundred and fifty thousand dollars each.” Claudia wolf whistles at the numbers. For a bank robber who only works on occasion like herself, that’s pretty sweet.

“Damn,” she answers as she puts on a bra. “Guess I’ll see you in fifteen.”

Claudia doesn’t like hanging around the coffeeshop she works at on her days off, but she’ll gladly make an exception in this case. The prospect of a night’s worth of labor and a nice prize still do nothing to get rid of the musty smell of coffee grounds and freshly baked goods that hits Claudia as soon as she walks in. It’s a smell she loathes and she can’t help but be reminded of that sinking feeling that she’s wasting her life she always gets when she comes into work. With an awkward grimace Claudia greets her coworkers, before hurrying over to where Soren is sitting at a small round table.

“Hey,” she greets her brother, who looks up from his phone and smiles as he sees her. “Let me guess,” Claudia continues as she takes a seat. “Already looking at the sneakers you’re going to buy when we’re done?” Soren scoffs a laugh and puts his phone down on the sticky table.

“You know me too well,” he grins. “I will get those Balenciaga Track 2’s even if it kills me.” Claudia swats at his arm.

“Don’t say that,” she murmurs as she eyes the two people that have just walked in. The man is nearly a head taller than the girl and looks quite a bit older, too. But they both have the same platinum blonde hair and focused expression, leaving no question that they belong together, somehow. “Is this them?” Claudia says as she nudges her brother. He nods in affirmation, before standing up.

“Runaan!” Soren says as he greets the man with a smile and an extended hand. “Long time no see, bro. This must be Rayla.” Runaan shakes his hand and returns the smile.

“And this must be Claudia,” he says, turning his bright blue eyes to Claudia. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“You too,” Claudia says, flashing the both of them a quick grin. “And you.” Runaan and Soren descend into stories about past jobs that Claudia has never heard about before and, considering the nasty details they’re laughing about, isn’t sure she even wants to. Instead, she takes this moment to study the girl who has taken the seat next to hers.

As opposed to Runaan’s long braid, Rayla’s wavy white hair only just touches her shoulders. Claudia offhandedly wonders if they dye it, or if it’s a natural thing. Then the girl’s eyes meet hers and Claudia feels herself freeze as she stares into the bright purple irises. The color is breathtaking and so otherworldly that Claudia briefly thinks that this girl might very well be an alien. Rayla only raises a white eyebrow, unimpressed.

“Do I have something on my face?” she asks and Claudia feels her cheeks heat up.

“No! No, uh,” she sputters, quickly averting her eyes. “You’re really pretty. I—uh.” Fuck, Claudia thinks as she looks at Rayla again. You really couldn’t look one girl in the eye without turning into a gay mess, huh? “I’ve just never seen eyes like that.” Rayla cracks a grin, though whether it’s at Claudia’s limited knowledge of the human body and it’s variances or at her embarrassing herself, Claudia’s not sure.

“It’s a mutation,” Rayla answers, crossing her arms as she leans back in her chair. Then, she briefly touches Runaan’s arm, pulling him from his reminiscing with Soren. “Should we get started?”

The plan seems to be from both Runaan and Rayla, because they take turns explaining its different parts, jumping in and taking over from the other at seemingly random points fluidly. It’s a good plan, solid, insofar plans for robbing a bank can be solid. It’s all pretty standard stuff; get in through the staff entrance with a stolen employee card, shut down the alarm and the surveillance, get the cash and get out. Rayla and Runaan have taken everything into account and Claudia is feeling pretty good about their chances. She’s pulled off jobs with _way_ more risks than this.

Maybe that’s when she jinxed it.

***

Runaan hadn’t told her it would feel this exhilarating. Runaan, as it turns out, hadn’t told her about a lot of things. With secure hands, Rayla hacks her way into the computer and puts the camera’s on a loop. This is her main job and it goes smoothly, and before she knows it she’s making her way to the main vault behind Claudia and Soren. Runaan is outside, waiting for them in their getaway car, and Rayla can already see his smile; the way it’ll spread out and reach his eyes when they all jump in with heavy black duffle bags and twenty-five million dollars.

It takes him five minutes, but then the lock clicks under Soren’s hands and the vault door swings open. Rayla hears Claudia squeal softly as she steps in and sets down the armful of bags she’d been carrying. A rush of adrenaline shoots through Rayla’s veins as she grabs smooth, never before touched bills and starts shoving them in the closest bag. The sheer amount of money under her fingers combined with a little fear is intoxicating and Rayla momentarily forgets everything, apart from the feeling of crisp edges and that calming green that’s quickly becoming her favorite color.

She’s so immerged in her task that she totally forgets about the two other people in the room, at least until her fingers brush against Claudia’s when she’s putting another stack of hundred dollar bills in a bag. Rayla figures she must look as bewildered as she feels, because Claudia’s cool green eyes soften, before she mutters: “You good?” Rayla can only nod, as it strikes her how similar that color is to that of the bills in her hands.

In hindsight, the fact that they got _so close_ is probably what stings the most. Soren is leading their little ragtag team back through the corridors of the bank to the employee entrance, when suddenly the alarm starts blaring and there are shouts from behind them. Claudia mutters expletives from beside Rayla and simultaneously, they all break out into a sprint.

It all happens really fast after that. Rayla sees Soren turn a corner at the same time a deep voice yells: “Police! Hands up, you’re under arrest.” There doesn’t seem to be another choice; Rayla freezes and, to her relief, sees Claudia doing the same.

“Fuck,” Claudia mumbles again as she drops the two bags she’d been carrying. “Fuck, shit, damn it.” Rayla feels the same way, though a little, guilty part of her takes solace in the fact that she’s not in this alone.

The drive to the precinct happens in complete silence. As does the part where they’re taken out of the car and are brought into an empty holding cell, after which the two policemen, one with a mop of ginger hair and another with dreads, leave them alone. “I should’ve stayed in bed this morning,” Claudia grumbles as she plops down on the metal bench that’s attached to the wall. “I should’ve never gotten dressed at _all_.” Rayla can only think about the abruptness of their near escape.

“What went wrong?” she asks, silently. “Didn’t we do everything according to plan?” Claudia rolls her eyes, annoyed.

“We did,” she answers. “Maybe the plan wasn’t as watertight as you had us believe.” Rayla frowns at that and opens her mouth, ready to debate that crazy notion, when Claudia continues. “Or maybe we were just incredibly, stupidly unlucky,” she mutters. Rayla sighs, defeated and takes a seat next to her, leaning her head against the grimy wall.

“I think we were.”

The cops come back shortly after that to talk to them separately, and Rayla has never been more glad for Runaan and his crazy attention to detail. Their contingency plan is pretty basic, with the two of them both denying every accountability despite being caught in the act, and before Rayla knows it she’s back in the cell again. About ten minutes later, Claudia gets brought back too.

“Hey,” she says as the detectives bring her back, wearing a silly smile. “Long time no see.” Rayla snorts despite herself.

“You didn’t rat me out, did you?”

“I am a lot of things, but a tattletale is not one of them,” Claudia says assuredly. “Besides, I have a plan.” Rayla glances around their cell and raises an eyebrow.

“A plan?” she asks, skeptically. “Really?”

“It’s more of a… creative solution,” Claudia says with a smirk. Her hands, still bound by the cuffs, go down to her boots and with a flourish, she gets a metal vial from one of them. “Say, you’re pretty strong right?”

“Yeah, I guess,” Rayla answers, even though she’s not following at all.

“Good,” Claudia continues, before unscrewing the cap of the vial. “This is purified, supercooled water. It’s pretty _cool_ , if I do say so myself.” She giggles as she pours the ordinary looking water over the lock of the cell. To Rayla’s surprise, it freezes almost instantly, making a crackling noise as it does. “Now, if you could…” Claudia gestures to the frozen lock. “Do your thing?” Rayla grins as she stands up.

“My pleasure,” she says, stretching a little before roundhouse kicking the lock, which after only two more kicks, breaks with a satisfying pop. With a grin, Claudia swings open the door, holding it open for Rayla.

“After you,” she smiles, sounding positively giddy. With a wide grin spreading over her own face, Rayla walks through.

Then Claudia slips her hand in Rayla’s as they quickly make their way to an abandoned staircase and Rayla finds she was wrong, before. Stealing was thrilling, but it has nothing on making her escape with Claudia by her side, the both of them silly on an adrenaline high unlike any she’s ever felt before.

The emergency exit swings open and the sun falls on their faces, and Rayla feels like she’s flying.


End file.
